Yes, today is the day Bill has a very special birthday. I know he's going to have cheesecake and presents. Let's see, something else is happening too. What is it?
Oh yeah, his wonderful granddaughter is bringing her parents and staying for a visit!!! We all get to enjoy this present.
He doesn't seem much older than the 20-year-old I met but since he now has a granddaughter he must be older. Oh my, how the time does fly!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Take That Road to the Top of the World!
With such spectacular weather we were happy to have the day off. Saturday was the day to take the jeep and go on "That Road". You know, the one Bill, Don and I went on last year when it was wet and foggy and we said we'd like to see it when you could really see. Well, let me tell you, we could really see and it was as beautiful as we hoped. We opened the windows and removed the top and the first thing I noticed was the smell of pine trees, the smell of pine you get when it's hot and dry outside. We just kept climbing and climbing. No bears or caribou but we did see a Dall sheep--she was below us so that tells you how high we were. Bill had heard that if you follow "That Road" you can see Bennett Lake so we did and we did. Distances are so deceiving. What looks like a short hike to the edge is really farther than it seems. The same is true when looking down at the lake. It all looks so close until you realize that those little specks down there are full-sized pine trees and a whole bunch of them at that. Coming back, yes, we did have to return on the same road (unusual for us), we saw five more Dall sheep and three pheasants. And a bunch of arctic squirrels.
Check out the photo album on the side.
Next, granddaughter Ariana is bringing her parents to Skagway for a visit. They're enjoying great weather in Juneau today and take the ferry up here tomorrow.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Grizzly nature at work
This is the same little grizzly from the previous video last week. He has distinctive two-tone coloring that makes him easy to recognize. I was speaking to one of the park rangers who agreed with me that this is most likely one of the pair we watched last summer acting so comicallly trying to catch salmon. So he would be in his third summer and be two and a half years old. Maybe he will be a good playmate for Ariana when she comes next week. Not.
When I took this video, he had just come down stream and crossed over the bridge like he did last week. He is in the crossing about 30 feet downstream from the bridge. I was standing in the open door of my jeep, ready to jump in, but, of course, he was too busy with fish to worry about me.
If you don't like blood, or think fish are just for decorating a stream, you may not want to watch this grizzly going about the grizzly business of surviving.
But, for me, this is really cool.
The crackling sound is the wind on the camera mike.
When I took this video, he had just come down stream and crossed over the bridge like he did last week. He is in the crossing about 30 feet downstream from the bridge. I was standing in the open door of my jeep, ready to jump in, but, of course, he was too busy with fish to worry about me.
If you don't like blood, or think fish are just for decorating a stream, you may not want to watch this grizzly going about the grizzly business of surviving.
But, for me, this is really cool.
The crackling sound is the wind on the camera mike.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Good citizen vs complete idiots
Half a day trying to drum up a tour to no avail.
So what to do?
Bear hunting!
When I got home, Peggie was quilting, so bear hunting definitely was my best option. When she quilts she uses up the whole tiny apartment.
On my way to Dyea I encountered some really quick little weasel-type animals. So quick and secretive, I could not get pictures as they ducked in and out of rocks and weeds. I don't know what they are, but there were four of them. After I gave up on them, I came around a curve and there was a burning campfire beside the road, and nobody around! The river was right across the road, but I didn't have a bucket. So I called 911. They sent the fire department. But first another vehicle came along. He had seen it also and went to get a bucket. We put water on it and stirred it with my shovel, then two firemen came and we let them take over. The first guy said he had seen people camped there earlier. What kind of idiot just leaves a campfire burning in a forest? A complete idiot.
No bears. But the eagles are still entertaining.
So what to do?
Bear hunting!
When I got home, Peggie was quilting, so bear hunting definitely was my best option. When she quilts she uses up the whole tiny apartment.
On my way to Dyea I encountered some really quick little weasel-type animals. So quick and secretive, I could not get pictures as they ducked in and out of rocks and weeds. I don't know what they are, but there were four of them. After I gave up on them, I came around a curve and there was a burning campfire beside the road, and nobody around! The river was right across the road, but I didn't have a bucket. So I called 911. They sent the fire department. But first another vehicle came along. He had seen it also and went to get a bucket. We put water on it and stirred it with my shovel, then two firemen came and we let them take over. The first guy said he had seen people camped there earlier. What kind of idiot just leaves a campfire burning in a forest? A complete idiot.
No bears. But the eagles are still entertaining.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Not so much
The aurora borealis was a bust. We got up at 1 am and went outside. After ten minutes of nothing we went back to bed. Perhaps more patience was required, but we have to work today, so losing lots of sleep seemed unattractive.
Anyway, I had used up my patience looking for bears. I spent the late afternoon and early evening at Dyea. The salmon are shoving each other around vying for fertilization rights. The eagles are playing a game called "Juveniles Rule." The way it works is, a mature bald eagle catches a salmon and starts to eat it. Then a juvenile flies in, knocking the adult away, then takes the fish to a new place, where another juvie knocks him away, repeating the process, sometimes involving up to four juvies. Unfortunately, this all happens too far away to get video. The adults take all this activity tolerantly, following along as if to say, "You kids play nice, there is enough for everyone."
Anyway, I had used up my patience looking for bears. I spent the late afternoon and early evening at Dyea. The salmon are shoving each other around vying for fertilization rights. The eagles are playing a game called "Juveniles Rule." The way it works is, a mature bald eagle catches a salmon and starts to eat it. Then a juvenile flies in, knocking the adult away, then takes the fish to a new place, where another juvie knocks him away, repeating the process, sometimes involving up to four juvies. Unfortunately, this all happens too far away to get video. The adults take all this activity tolerantly, following along as if to say, "You kids play nice, there is enough for everyone."
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Aurora Borealis??
We're hopeful.
Greg sent us some news about solar activity and since then we've been getting more information so the plan is to go to bed, get up at 1:00 a.m. and drive up the road where we have some open sky. There are lots of Tweets on the internet that I've been following. It looks like the viewing will be good. Today was spectacular weather--clear skies, sunshine and high 70's, maybe low 80's.
Clear skies--hurray!!!
It's too exciting!
http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/2028228/The-Sun-Unleashes-Coronal-Mass-Ejection-At-Earth?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+%28Slashdot%29
I noticed the news story has a heading "News for Nerds. Stuff That Matters".
Our whole family is kind of nerdy and if you're reading about our adventures you're probably kind of nerdy too.
Nerds are great!
Greg sent us some news about solar activity and since then we've been getting more information so the plan is to go to bed, get up at 1:00 a.m. and drive up the road where we have some open sky. There are lots of Tweets on the internet that I've been following. It looks like the viewing will be good. Today was spectacular weather--clear skies, sunshine and high 70's, maybe low 80's.
Clear skies--hurray!!!
It's too exciting!
http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/2028228/The-Sun-Unleashes-Coronal-Mass-Ejection-At-Earth?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+%28Slashdot%29
I noticed the news story has a heading "News for Nerds. Stuff That Matters".
Our whole family is kind of nerdy and if you're reading about our adventures you're probably kind of nerdy too.
Nerds are great!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Bill says...
Today (Sunday) was devoted to bear hunting. I went out in the late morning. No bears, but found out later one had disappeared minutes before I arrived. I went out again after lunch and Peggie went with me. We stayed until supper time. No bears. After supper I decided to give it one more try. Success! A bear was fishing in the familiar waters just upstream from the foot bridge. About fifteen people were on or near the bridge taking pictures, including the town's night patrolman. That is his voice you hear telling someone to get back. I had been standing right at the railing off the far end of the bridge. This bear started downstream and it was clear he was not stopping, so we all exited stage right. As you can see on the video, he crossed over the exact spot where I had been. I was a lot closer to him while I shot this video than I ever wanted to be, or ever want to be again, without at least some vehicular steel between us.
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